Emergency door-operating apparatus



Dec. 13, 1927. 1,652,623

F. HEDLEY ET AL EMERGENCY DOOR OPERATING APPARATUS Filed Aug.- 1 1925 4Sheets-Sheet 1 MA TTORNEY Dec. 13, 1927.

1,652,623 F. HEDLEY ET AL EMERGENCY DOOR OPERATING APPARATUS Filed A112.15 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 13, 1927. 1,652,623

. F. HEDLEY ET AL EMERGENCY DOOR OPERATING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 15, 19234 Sheets-Sheet 3 Dec. 13, 1927. 1,652,623

F. HEDLEY ET AL EMERGENCY DOOR OPERATING APPARATUS File A1 2. 1 1923 4Sheets-Sheet 4 A TTORNE Yd Patented Dec. 13, 1927.

UNITED STATES 1,652,623 Parent orrics.

FRANK KEELEY, OF YGNKERTS, AND JAMES SDGYLE, F MOUNT VERNON, NEl/V YORK.

EMERGENCY DOOR-OPERATING APPARATUS.

Application filed. August 15, 1923.

This invention relates to door operating apparatus, and particularly toapparatus "for controlling the operation of the doors in subway,elevated and other cars in case of emergency.

The object of the invention is to provide manually operated devices tocontrol the opening operation of motor operated. doors such as areemployed in subway, ele vated, and other railway'cais, in case ofaccident or other emergency which destroys or puts out of commission thedevices tor normally controlling the door operating motor.

A further object is to provide an emergency door operating apparatus ofthe nature and for the purpose referred to, which is simple in structureand ellicient in operation, and wherein the desired control isottectedby devices which are easily accessible either inside or out-side thecar.

Other objects of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter.

The invention consists substantially in the construction, combination,location and relative arrangement of parts, all will be nore fullyhereinafter set torth, as shown in the accompanying drawings, andfinally pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a view somewhat diagrammatic, parts in elevation, showing adoor and motor and operating connections therehetween;

Fig. 1 is a view in transverse section of the construction shown in Fig.1;

l 2 is a view in elevation, parts in vertical transverse sectionshowing; an apparatus "for controlling the operations of a car door incase of emergency and constructed in accordance with. the principles ofour invention.

Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation ol: the emergency apparatus takenfrom a point inside the car.

Fig. 4: is a view in side elevation showing a portion of the upper partof the cinegency door control ap iiaratus taken from the outside of thecar.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig 2 on a somewhat larger scale, showingthe upper part of the emergency door controlling ap' paratus. I Fig. 6is a View in side elevation taken from the inside of the car, of thatpart of the construction shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a view in elevation showing the Serial No. 657,563.

lower part of the emergency door operating and controlling apparatus,not shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

Fig. 8 is a viewiin diagram showing a circuit arrangement employed inconnection with our invention.

The same part is designated by the same reference numeral wherever itoccurs throughout the several views.

It is a common practice to employ motors to open and close the slidingand other doors used in subway, elevated and other pas-v senger carryingcars, and to control the door operating motor electrically throughmagnets or magnet valves where the motors are operated by a pressuremedium, the control oi the motor either for opening; or for closingoperation, being effected from a convenient point, by a conductor orother employee in charge out the car. i here pneumatic motors areemployed, it is customary to provide a magnet valve to ell ect thecontrol of the motor for the opening movement of the door, and anothermagnet valve for ellecting the control or the motor to close the door.In practice the door operating motor is connected to the door by meansof an operating arm or lever in such manner that as the motor isoperated in one direction or the other, the door is shifted from oneposition to another, thatis from closed to open position, or from opento closed position, as the case may be.

It is also a common practice in door operating; systems of the naturereferred to, to provide the door retaining device, or lock arranged toengage the door and hold it in its closed position so as to preventaccidental opening thereof.

In such. door operating systems and installations, of the nature abovereferred to, it is the common practice, in order to conserve space, tomount the door operating motor in the space beneath a car seat where,not only is the motor concealed from view, but the door operating armand the motor control valves as well, are also concealed by beinglocated in the space beneath the car seat.

It is among the special purposes of our present invention, to provide anarrangement which will enable any passenger inside the car, or anyoneoutside the car, to effect the opening of the car door for emergencyoperation in case of an accident occuring, which would derange or putout of commission, the electric circuits employed to control the dooroperating motor in normal operation, or in case of such accident,putting out of commission the supply of power medium to the motor foroperating the same, and in carrying out our invention we propose toprovide means which are simple and ellicient, and which, in case of anysuch emergency, a passenger or other person without knowledge of theplace or location of the motor or of its control magnets, may be enabledto effect the opening ofthe car door to per- I mit the release or thepassengers or others Cir who might become trapped inside the car by theaccident, which necessitates the emergency operation ot the door.

Such an emergency door operating apparatus is especially desirable oncars on. which, according to modern practice, a conductor or otherattendant is not stationed. For example, in the operation of thesuljnvay sys tem in various cities, it is new a common practice to placeunder the control 01'? a single conductor or attendant, at a controlstation, the control of the operation oi? the doors of several cars ofthe train. Thisleaves one or more cars without a conductor or otherattendant, and in case of serious accident resulting from collisions orotherwise, the danger is incurred or the passengers becoming trappedwithin the car, and either through lack of knowledge as to the locationol the door operating members, or oi their control valves or method ofcontrol or operation, of becoming panic stricken. And, in case such anaccident should result in destroying the electrical control of the dooroperating motors or cutting oil the supply of operating medium for suchmotors, then the occupants of the car would be without means to e'l'lectan opening of the car door to release the trapped passengers. It is,therefore, within the special purposes of our present invention, and inorder to avert the possibility of panic conditions, and to conserve thesafety ot the street car travelling public, to provide emergency meansto enable the passengers to be released easily and quickly.

Referring to the drawing, reference numoral 1O designates a door. Thismay he the usual sliding door, such as is employed in subway, elevatedor other passenger carrying cars. 11 is the motor, which ac cording tocommon practice is located heneath a seat 12 inside the car, see 1 Amagnet valve inoicated at i l, serves to control the opening movement ofthe motor, and a similar valve 13 serves to control the door closingmovements of the motor. An arm 15 actuated by the motor, is connected tothe door, whereby the door is actuated to opened or to closed position,according as the operating motor is operated. i

In the particular arrangement shown in Fig. 1, compressed air isemployed as the motor operating medium. The supply of pressure medium tothe motor, and to exh aust, being controlled by the magnet valves 13, il, such supply being obtained from the reservoir 16, to which delivers acompres or 17. The parts so far described. may he or. the usual, or handconstruction and arrangement now well understood in the art, andtherefore requires no :lfurther description oi the structure nor of themode oi opertion thereof.

In a door operating installation, such as above described, it is also acommon practice to employ rocl-z shaft 18 which is rocked by a n'iagnet13), which is conunonly known as a door lock magnet, such rock shaft 18having an arm 20 which is con ncctod to be operated when the door locltmagnet is energized so as to rock the shaft 18. An arm 21 also comiectedto shatt 15, operates a lock stop 127, arranged to engage behind therear edge oi. the door it), when the latter is in closed position, toprevent the opening of the door. This locl; device arrangement is alsoan expedient which is "frequently employed as a satiety device in dooroperating systems of the nature referred to, the arrangement being suchthat when the door is closed the shaft 18 is rocked into position forthe stop dog 127 to form a lock to retain the door in its closedposition, it being necessary to retract the stop dog before the door canbe opened, such retraction being eitl ected by the energization of themagnet 19, manually, or otherwise may be convenient.

We will now describe the applicat ion. of an emergency door openingmechanism cmhcdving the principles of our invention, to a door operatingsystem oi the nature at ove referred to.

An auxiliary source o'l control. current, such tor instance, as abattery 23 or other source oi? current, independent of the usual andordinary circuit arrangement (llllpltll't 'l in the door motor controlsvstem, is supplied, the circuit oft which conr lied by a switch deviceindicated generally at A, see Fig. El, and in accordance with ourinvention, we yn'tmoso to provide manuallvopcratcd means to control theoperaticm ol switch device and "we propose to so locate the manualcontrol means {or said switch device readily acc ll lie and available toan vone eithe within the car or outside ot the car. tor etl'ectlng theoperation ol the switch dc- Various manually operated switch this viceA. control devices may be employed 'i'or purpose.

As illustrative we have shown a sliding wright within a casing to slideguides formed in said casing. with its sliding weight Q-lcated on thewall of the ot' a practical a 'ticall in casino is prererabl v lo carnear the upper edge of such wall, and on the inside of the ar. il eight24 may be guided in its vertical movements by a guide rod 26 mountedupon the inner wall of the car. The weight Ell is connected by a cableor other flexible connection .27 arranged to operate over suitable guidesheave 28 to the switch device A for operating the le"er. instead 01'?the connection 27 being directly connected to the switch device A, saidconnection is attached to the upper end of a rod 29, which is providedat its lower end with a hook member 30 disposed beneath the dooroperating lever l to engage the latter when the weight is pulleddownwardly so as to rock the door ru crating lever and to thereby effectmain ually, when occasion requires, the operation of the door into openposition.

in order to permit a like manual control and operation of the auxiliaryswitch device A, and of the door lever 15 from the outside of the car, asin'iilar g'ht indicated at 31 is arranged within a casing 32 and guidedby a guide rod 33, is disposed on the outer surface of the wall of thecar near the upper edge thereof as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 5. Theweight 31 likewise is connected to the rod 29 through a cable or otherconnection 34: operating over suitable guide sheaves The actuation ofthe switch device A by the n'iovements inuparted to red 29 when eitherof the weights 2%, Si is pulled down from normal or retracted positionmay octed in various ways.

Vi e have shown a simple arrangement wherein a lug or arm 36 is carriedbythe rod 29, and arranged when said rod is raised to engage the nose orend portion 37 of a pawl 38 pivotally mounted as at 39 in a bracketcarried by the inner panel e'O of the wall so as to rocl-z said pawl 38.Said pawl is provided with a projection or pin ll arranged to extendthrough. a curved slot 42 in the wall panel, and which pin or stud iscng: d by a linl: 43 connected to a pivot arm of the switch device A. Arod 4-5 connected to the rock arm 44; carries contact plates illi, ii",and 48. These contact plates rcspec cly cooperate with pairs of circuitterminals 4%, 50, and 51, for a purpose to be more fully explainedhereinafter.

As above explained, the rod 29 is provided with a hook portion 30, toengage beneath the door operating arm or lever 15 when the rod :29 ismoved upwardly by pulling down either of the weights 2%, 31. The arrangrent is such, however, that as the rod 29 is lifted, the dog 36 carriedthereby engages and rocks the arm 38 from the position shown in Fig. 3into the position shown in Fig. before the hook end portion 4 of saidrod 29 engages the lever 15, thereby elfecting the operation of theswitch dcvice A. The result of this operation of the switch device A, aswill presently be more fully explained, is to close an auxiliaryelectric circuit through the door opening magnet 14:, which controls thedoor opening movement of the motor 11, thereby effecting the poweroperation of the motor to open the door. 111 this event, of course, thehook portion 30 of rod 29 will not perform any li'unction. If, however,the accident or other eu'iero'enc which re uires the ODGIZltlOll of Othe switch device A, or the opening of the door, should result inrupture of the pressure supply to the motor 11, then, of course, theoperation above described of the switch device A, would be withoutresult. In that event the hook portion ill) of rod 29 becomes effectiveto engage and lift or rock the door operating lever 15, therebyopeniugthe door by manual power applied by pulling down one or the otherof the weights 24-, Si, thus :ii'l'ordin g a manually operated means foruse in case of emergency, such as would render inoperative not only theelectrical circuits employed in the normal control of the motor, butalso the supply, of pressure medium to the motor. I

l i henthe rock arm 38 has been shifted from its normal or retractedposition as shown in Fig. 3 into its raised position shown in Fig. 7, bythe engagement of the lug 36 therewith, thereby operating the anailiaryswitch device A, any suitable meaiu; ma be employed for retaining saidarm in its raised position.

A simple arrangement for this purpose is shown wherein a spring 53 isconnected at one end to the stud 41 at the upper end of link 48, and atthe other end as at 54 to a suitable convenient fixed part 55 at a pointsuch that the line of tension of said spring as the arm 38, is rocked bythe pivot 39 of arm 38, as said arm is rocked into its raised position,thereby enabling said spring to retain the arm in its raised position.

in order to restore automatically the au.\:- iliary switch device A toits normal position when the door lever 15 is again operated to closethe door, and to permit said door operating lever to rock door openingopera tion under normal conditions, without effecting the auxiliaryswitch A, we pivotally mount a dog 56 on the side of the door operatinglever 15, said dog being provided with a lip or extension 57 whichextends.

over the upper edge of said lover, a spring 59 serving to hold the dog56 with the projection 57 resting against the upper on e of the dooroperating lever. T he nose portion 60 of this dog is curved on its upperedge and is flat at its lower edge. This nose portion of the leverduring the upward swing of the door operating lever 15 to open the doorwipes by the stud 41 carried by pawl 38 without raising said pawl andhence without operating the switch A.

In the downwardswing of the door opcrating lever 15 in closing the door,the fiat lower surface oi nose of dog 56, engages the stud ll, in casesaid stud has been raised in emergency operation of the apparatus asabove explained, thereby depr 'ng said stud s1, and overcoming thetension of spring and causing the lever 38 to be forced downwarcly andto snap into its retracted lower normal position.

In practi e, and in order to prevent unneces ry or other tampering withthe weight devices 241-, 31, said weights are retained within thecasing; 25, and facilitate the engageu'ient ot the weights by thelingers of an operator, to ailord a grasp thereon for pulling theweights down in emergency oporation, said weights are torn'lcd withopenings ii'idicated at (31'. 'lilhcsc cases are preterahly protected byglass or other frangible plates ('32, which in case of an emergencyrequiring emergency operation ot the doors, may be readily broken, andtor this purpose we provide a han'uner device (33 with chain attachment(54-, and whic i r ay be sustained in a suitable bracket in convenientposition on th wall of the car. In the case of the casing 31 on theouter si le wall, a hool: device (36, see Fig. l, may be employed toengage the weight 31. Withii'i the ca ing to haul it down.

In practice, and in order to aiiord still further protection againstderangement or unauthorized operation. of the emergency apparatus, weprefer to lead the flexible connections 27, 3%, intermediate weights 2%,31, and the lifting rod 29, through an enclosing pipe (57.

in order to return the rod 29 after being raised in emergency operationas the weights ill, Eli are restored into their casings 25, 32, weprovide a spring 6:) which is connected at its upper end to a lug on theupper end ot rod 29, and at its lower end at 71, to a convenient 'lixedpart or side wall panel.

Referring particularly to the diagram, Fig. 8, we have shown the circuitarrangement employed in the control oi? the motor in normal operation otthe ooor, butsince our iirri-rni flftiitlz'ili has to do with the'cziiz'w i 5 wt tl gemcnt for normal opi-ra uunc, and we will, there(onlinc our de ption oi. the operation to the operation of the emergencyapparatus.

As above explained. in the normal opera tion of the doors, switch deviceA occupies the position shown in 3 and S. In this position the bridgingcontact niembeii's 46, 47 life out of bridging relation with respect tocircuit terminals 41-9, 50, while the bridging contact 4-8 is closedupon the terminal coutacts 51. These contacts 51 are included in acircuit connection 72 in the circuit of the door lock magnet 1.9 and areused in the normal operation of the motor control system.

circuit or" tron r:

lVh en, however, the weight 24 or 31 is pulled down, thereby actuatingthe switch device A, the bridging member d8 is displaced from bridgingrelation with respect to tcrn'iinals 51 of circuit 72, thereby openingthe circuit of the door lock magnet and wholly CliSCO11- necting theemergency apparatus from the apparatus employed in the normal operationof the door motor control system. The uame operation of switch A closesthe bridging members i6, i7 upon their cooperating contacts i9, 50. Thebridging of contacts 49 clos a circuit from the emergency batteryorother current source 2:), through conductor 7 across contacts ill,through conductor 72, and the door lock magnet 19. The cnergizatimi o'tthis magnetresults in the rock arm 33) being actuated lhereb" rockingthe shaft 18 and hence withdrawi11gthe door h or loch 1: this leaves thedoor tree to be opened. .hc same movement of rock shaft 18, through thearm 7 closes a contact member 75 across terminals 7 (5. These 4"" itactsare contained in series with conduc- 77, 7 When, however, switch A is0peratc'd, a circuit is completed from emergency battery 23 throughconductor 73, across contacts 50, through conductor 77, across contact76, through conductor 78, and door opening magnet let to ground at 79,thereby causing the motor to be perated and the door to be opened. Theclosing of this circuit tin-(nigh the door opening magnet l-ft would bewithout result, of course, in case the accidentor other cause requiringemer- {jency operation of the door should shut oti the supply ofoperating medium to the mo tor. in that event, oi course, the door willhe opened as above explained manually by the hook portion 30 of rodengaging be neath the door operating arm or lever From the foregoingdescription, it will be seen tl at we provide an exceedingly simple andeilicicnt apparatus tor the emergency opening of the door in case oiaccident, thereby increasing the safety oi operation of street railivay,subway, elevated and other cars or systems.

Many variations and changes in the details, construction. andarrangement would readily occur to persons skilled in the art, withoutde iarturc from the spirit and scope of our invci'ition. \Ve,thcreiii'ore, do not dcsire to be limited or restricted to the e:- ictdetails of the structure and arrangement shown.

Having now set forth the objects and nature of our invention, and astructure illustrative oi the principles involved, what we claim as newand useful, and of our joint invention, and desire to secure by LettersPatent is:

1. In an emergency door operating apparatus, the combination with a dooroperating motor, and means to control the same in fill Hill

n Lil III noeaeaa normal operation, of auxiliary manually operateddevices including a switch device said devices arranged to operate thenormal motor controlling means independently of the normal operation ofsaid control means or to operate the door indepenident of the motor.

2. In an en'iergency door operating apparatus, the combination with adoor operating motor, the control magnet therefor, and means to controlthe circuit of said magnet in normal operation, of an auxiliary manuallyoperated switch device to control said magnet independently of thenormal control thereof, said auxiliary switch device being normally ininoperative position, and means to automatically retain the same inoperative position. I V

3. In an emergency door operating apparatus, the combination with a dooroperating motor, the control magnet therefor, and means to control thecircuit of said magnet in normal operation, of an auxiliary manuallyoperated switch device to control said magnet independently of thenormal control thereof, said auxiliary switch being normally ininoperative position, means to actuate the same into operative positionfor emergency operation of the motor, and releasable means arranged toretain the same in its operative position.

4. In an emergency door operating apparatus, the combination with a dooroperating' motor, a magnet to control the same to open the door, andmeans to control the circuit of said magnet in normal operation, of anauxiliary device independent of said door to control the circuit of saidmagnet independently of the normal control thereof, and manuallyactuated means to operate said device.

5. In an emergency door operating apparatus, the combination with a dooroperating; motor, magnet to control the same to open the door, and meansto control the circuit of said magnet in normal operation, of anauxiliary device to control said magnet independently of the normalcontrol thereof, and manually actuated means to operate said device,said manually actuated means also arranged to open the doorindependently of said motor.

6. In an emergency door operating apparatus, the combination with a dooroperating motor, means actuated thereby to move the door including alever, a'pivoted dog carried by said lever and means to control saidmotor in normal operation, of auxiliary manually operated devices tocontrol said motor independently of the normal control means to open thedoor, said dog operating when the door is again closed to restore saidauxiliary device to normal condition.

7. In an emergency door operating apparatus, the combination with a dooroperating motor, a door operating lever actuated thereby and connectedto the door to move the same to open and closed position, and means tocontrol said motor in normal operation, and a switch device to controlsaid motor in emergency operation indeimmlontly of the normal motorcontrol means, a movable rod having; a lug, means arranged to be engagedby said lug to actuate said switch device into operative position, meansto retain said switch device in operative position, and manuallyactuated means to move said rod.

8. In an en'iergency door operating apparatus, the combination with adoor operating motor, a door operating lever actuated thereby andconnected to the door to move the same to open and closed position, andmeans to control said motor in normal operation, and a switch device tocontrol said motor in emergency operation independently of the normalcontrol means, a movable rod having a lug, a pivoted leverarranged to beengaged by said lug, said lever connected to aid switch device tooperate the same, and manually actuated device to shift said rod.

9. In an emergency door operating apparatus, the combination with a dooroperating motor, a door operating lever actuated there by and connectedto the door to move the same to open and closed position, and means tocontrol said motor in normal operation, and a switch device to controlsaid motor in emergenoy operation independently of the normal controlmeans, a movable rod having a. lug, a pivoted lever arranged to beengaged by said lug, said lever connected to said switch device tooperate the same, a spring connected to said lever to arrange to passcentral relation with respect thereto when said lever is rocked intooperating position, to retain said lever in its operated position whenmanually actuating the de vice, for shifting said rod, and means torestore said'lever and switch device to their normal position.

10. In an emergency door operating apparat-us, the combination with adoor operating motor, a door operating lever actuated thereby andconnected to the door to move the same to open and closed position, andmeans to control said motor in normal operation, and a switch device tocontrol said motor in emergency operation independently of the normalcontrol means, a movable rod having a lug, a pivoted lever arranged tobe engaged by said lug, said lever connected to said switch device tooperate the same, and manually actuated device to shift said rod, andmeans actuated by said rod to open the door independently of the motor.

11. In an emergency door operating apparatus, the combination with adoor operating motor, a lever actuated thereby and connected to thedoor, and means to control said motor in normal operation, of anauxiliary switch device, a, link connected thereto, a

shi'ltable rod for actuating said link, a normally retained weighthaving connection with said rod for manual operation of the lever, saidswitch device operated to control the motor independently of the normalcontrol thereof to open the door, said rod having means to engage themotor to open the door independently ot the motor.

12. In an emergency door operating apparatus, the combination with adoor operating motor, a magnet to control the door opening movement ofthe motor, a norn' al circuit for said magnet for normal operationthereof, and an auxiliary circuit for said magnet, and an ind i icudcntcurrent supply for said independent circuit, of an auxiliary switch forcontrolling said auxiliary circuit, and manually actuated device foroperating raid switch.

13. In an emergency door operating apparatus, the combination with adoor operating motor, a lever actna ted thereby and connected to thedoor, and means to control said motor in normal operation, of ashiftable rod having means to engage said lever to operate the same indoor opening direction independently of the motor, and manually actuateddevice connected to said rod to operate the same, and means alsooperated by the shifting of said rod to control the operation of themotor in door opening direction.

1a. In an emergency door operating apparatus, the combination with adoor operating motor, a lever actuated thereby and connected to thedoor, and means to control said motor in normal operation, of asliitttable rod having means to engage said lever to operate the same indoor opening direction independently of the motor, and manually actuateddevice connected to said rod to operate the smile, and means alsooperated by the shifting of said rod to control the operation of themotor in door opening direc tion, and a dog pivotally mounted on saidlever arranged to restore said switch device to normal position when thedoor is again closed.

In testimony whereoi we have hereunto setour hands on this 9th day ofAugust A. 1)., 1923.

FRANK HEDLEY. JAMES S. DOYLF.

